Even though our days are a little shorter and evenings a touch colder we have to be honest about South African Autumn ... it's still pretty hot. It's a wonderful time to relax outdoors and chill with an ice cold anything.
We've made a lot of iced tea. When I say a lot - I mean ... thousands of litres of the stuff ... we love it just as much as we love our tea cocktails. But it takes a while to prepare. Pre-rolling boil ... timing ... pouring ... straining ... resteeping ... it's hard work. So what if it went ... away?
Cold brew
Easy, relaxed, pop it in the fridge and wait! Et voilá! We've done some research and adore Tales of a Kitchen's version with coconut water!
To make one liter you will need:
- Water of one young coconut (about 500 ml)
- 500 ml water
- 3 tsp Ceremonie Earl Grey Lavender loose leaf
- 1 tsp sweetener of choice (stevia / agave / honey / maple syrup) + 2 TBSP hot water
- Mix the sweetener with hot water to help dissolve it.
- Combine sweetened water, loose leaf tea, coconut water, and water in a glass jar, close the lid and leave it in the fridge overnight.
- Strain and serve with an orange slice, fresh mint, and a sprig of lavender for fun!
We adore our Earl Grey Lavender and can't wait to add it to our collection of favorites like Wild Berry, Sencha Lemon, Rooibos Apple Mint ... and (my best) Jasmine Pearl. While I like my hot tea sans sugar, I feel that iced tea needs to be sweetened (howsoever you like to sweeten it) so pick your poison. And it needs to be on ice. Stacks of the stuff.
Enjoy falling into Autumn with a hint of warm weather and a Cold Brew Earl Grey Lavender iced tea to match!